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volcanologist.bsky.social
Dr Rebecca Williams
@volcanologist.bsky.social
3.3K followers 890 following 730 posts

Reader in Volcanology in Geology @Hull. Waffle about volcanoes, HigherEd, tea and occasional running. SFHEA & STEM ambassador. She/her.

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Sociology 22%
Public Health 15%
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volcanologist.bsky.social
Dr Rebecca Williams @volcanologist.bsky.social · Aug 2
It's about time I announced a project that I've been working on in the last year... I wrote a book!

'Volcanoes: 10 things you should know' published by @orionbooks.bsky.social Seven Dials will be out in September. It's available to pre-order now. Links: linktr.ee/volcanologist
A graphic of a book. The cover is a deep red and had a good line illustration of an erupting volcano.

volcanologist.bsky.social
Dr Rebecca Williams @volcanologist.bsky.social · 13h
Introducing the kids to Terry Pratchett in the same way I discovered Terry Pratchett.
Photograph of a hand holding a book. The cover is illustrated with lots of nomes climbing around a banana. The book is titled "Truckers" by Terry Pratchett.

Reposted by Rebecca Williams

brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social
Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 23h
One of my favourite episodes of Radio 4's #Ramblings, ever!

Anjana's knowledge and passion for all things 'rock' are hugely inspiring, and this episode is an absolute delight. Listen again via link below, and follow Anjana here: @anjanakhatwa.bsky.social

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 4 - Ramblings, Whispering Rocks with Anjana Khatwa
Clare joins earth scientist Anjana Khatwa in Dorset to explore the landscape she loves.
www.bbc.co.uk

volcanologist.bsky.social
Dr Rebecca Williams @volcanologist.bsky.social · 1d
I've not read this! Thanks for the rec

volcanologist.bsky.social
Dr Rebecca Williams @volcanologist.bsky.social · 1d
Thanks! I've not read this, adding it to my wishlist

Reposted by Rebecca Williams

tweetisaurus.bsky.social
Prof Susie Maidment @tweetisaurus.bsky.social · 1d
Review of the Fossil Files podcast @thefossilfiles.bsky.social just in from a palaeo podcast skeptic: "I really thought palaeo podcasts weren't for me, but I guess I was listening to the wrong ones". Listen on libsyn or wherever you get your podcasts: fossils.libsyn.com
The Fossil Files
In “The Fossil Files”, a pair of palaeontologists delve into the latest discoveries from the world of palaeontology and seek to bring fossils to back to life. Each episode, Susie and Rob will discuss ...
fossils.libsyn.com

volcanologist.bsky.social
Dr Rebecca Williams @volcanologist.bsky.social · 1d
Oh you are too kind ❤️

Reposted by Gavin L. Foster, Rebecca Williams, Stacy D. VanDeveer

davidho.bsky.social
David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 1d
Simple rule: Stop setting carbon on fire to make energy. It ain't sustainable.
Drax still burning 250-year-old trees sourced from forests in Canada, experts say
Exclusive: report by Stand.earth says subsidiary of power plant received truckloads of whole logs at biomass pellet sites
www.theguardian.com

volcanologist.bsky.social
Dr Rebecca Williams @volcanologist.bsky.social · 2d
Even harder in the UK where we have 3 years and the drive is for bigger credit modules and less contact. Students can only actually take 16-18 modules in a degree programme at most institutions (at most). We can't teach them everything.

volcanologist.bsky.social
Dr Rebecca Williams @volcanologist.bsky.social · 2d
What book would you recommend to young scientists these days?

In the 90s I was of course recommended, as were many others, The Double Helix. "An incredible story of scientific endeavour and discovery".

What inspirational books about scientific process and doing science could we be recommending?

Reposted by Rebecca Williams

vergogna.bsky.social
vergogna.bsky.social @vergogna.bsky.social · 2d
This puts Alaska/ Hawaii in mortal danger. But I doubt if he cares.
www.nbcnews.com/science/tsun...
U.S. tsunami warning system, reeling from funding and staffing cuts, is dealt another blow
Seismic monitoring stations in Alaska are closing after a denied federal grant, risking delayed tsunami warnings for people living on the West Coast.
www.nbcnews.com

Reposted by Rebecca Williams

vickyveritas.bsky.social
Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 2d
The Old Copper complex, was an ancient Native American culture around Michigan that mined (>5,000 mines) & worked the 99% pure native copper for tools, weapons, and ornaments as far back as 9,500 yrs. Fascinating! #MichiganCopper More

#OreCup ⚒️ sci-fi 🧪 🖖🏼 scifi Geosciences #WomenInSTEM geology 🍎 🔭🪐
America's First Metal Industry: The Old Copper Complex
YouTube video by UArizona Mining Engineering & Mineral Resources
youtu.be

volcanologist.bsky.social
Dr Rebecca Williams @volcanologist.bsky.social · 2d
That is wild.

Reposted by Rebecca Williams

alicerpaine.bsky.social
Dr Alice Paine @alicerpaine.bsky.social · 2d
~100,000 years of rainfall… 💦

Reposted by Rebecca Williams

rehemat24.bsky.social
dr. rehemat 👩🏽‍💻👩🏽‍🔬 @rehemat24.bsky.social · 2d
I found a new women in engineering podcast today whilst making a speaker shortlist for a future @earthsciencewomen.bsky.social event!

Passing on to the world of Bluesky 😀

open.spotify.com/show/7D5CxK7...

[event release coming in January 2026]
#021 Chai & Chat Engineering with Lisa Martello
open.spotify.com

Reposted by Rebecca Williams

kennarubin.bsky.social
Dr. Kenna Harmony Rubin @kennarubin.bsky.social · 2d
🧪🌋⚒️ This never gets boring. A pulse of hot lava meanders down the vent proximal surface flow this morning at Kilauea volcano #Hawaii. More than just pretty, Volcanologists study time variations of lava, tephra & gas distribution, movement, & composition to understand volcanic processes and hazards
Glowing lava flow on 8 Nov. 2025, after the most recent high fountain episodes, from a live view camera, Halemaʻumaʻu crater within Kaluapele (Kīlauea caldera), from the northwest rim of the crater USGSc V1cam]. SOURCE: U.S. Geological Survey https://share.google/Sf0CKlyXCTCde18Et

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Rebecca Williams, Michael H. Whitworth , and 2 more

abney.bsky.social
Charlotte Abney @abney.bsky.social · 2d
For those with a scholarly interest in Franklin, Watson, and other pioneering researchers in molecular biology, @sciencehistory.org has just opened our new landmark collection of their papers, and applications for research fellowships are currently open:

www.sciencehistory.org/hmbc
History of Molecular Biology Collection
This unparalleled collection includes Rosalind Franklin's historic 'Photo 51,' which revealed the double-helix structure of DNA.
www.sciencehistory.org

Reposted by Steve Peers, Rebecca Williams

jeremymberg.bsky.social
Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 2d
On one evening, the speakers were divided up and went to dinner parties hosted by some of the wealthy folks who lived around Cold Spring Harbor on Long Island. My dinner was delightful, with good conversation with our host (the mayor of a nearby village), his friends, and some other speakers.

34/41

volcanologist.bsky.social
Dr Rebecca Williams @volcanologist.bsky.social · 2d
I guess for me the lack of explicit discussion is telling.

And yes, it's still very very rife and manifests in that somewhat subtle exclusion. Which is why it's so important to call it out for what it is.

volcanologist.bsky.social
Dr Rebecca Williams @volcanologist.bsky.social · 2d
But I also think this article isn't providing the nuance that it is being promoted as doing. I don't think it's helpful to frame this as "Franklin wasn't a victim" either.

volcanologist.bsky.social
Dr Rebecca Williams @volcanologist.bsky.social · 2d
True. Franklin has become a poster child for a very common experience. It's all too common to be contributing ideas, data, etc but then to be missed off the critical paper or prize. It's felt so painfully by so many, there's a desperation to trying to write those wrongs.

Reposted by Rebecca Williams

byjessicadavies.bsky.social
Jessica Mills Davies @byjessicadavies.bsky.social · 2d
Here, Rosalind Franklin's colleague Maurice himself argues to the head of their lab in London that their data should not have been leaked to Watson and Crick. You're welcome.

volcanologist.bsky.social
Dr Rebecca Williams @volcanologist.bsky.social · 2d
In all the years of reading about Rosalind Franklin I've never actually come across the story or narrative distilled down into 'they stole Photo 51' nor that Franklin didn't know the worth of her own data. I mean, she published her work in the same journal.
That simple narrative helps no one.

volcanologist.bsky.social
Dr Rebecca Williams @volcanologist.bsky.social · 2d
And the article may argue that Franklin was an equal contributor, which she was. But that contribution was clearly not recognised, either in published work nor in the later Nobel Prize.

How does the evidence presented suggest there was no scientific injustice?

volcanologist.bsky.social
Dr Rebecca Williams @volcanologist.bsky.social · 2d
It's interesting though. The article clearly says that whilst the data was shared with them, they used it without permission and then didn't credit it in their work. Stealing might not be the right word, but that's certainly underhand and all too common an experience for women in science.

volcanologist.bsky.social
Dr Rebecca Williams @volcanologist.bsky.social · 2d
I feel like a woman in STEM will have written that article using exactly the same pieces of archival data very differently through a lens of lived experience and the lived experiences of their friends and colleagues.

volcanologist.bsky.social
Dr Rebecca Williams @volcanologist.bsky.social · 2d
Right?!

I'd never heard the story that she didn't understand her own data either. Not sure where that even comes from in the article.

volcanologist.bsky.social
Dr Rebecca Williams @volcanologist.bsky.social · 2d
Right? I thought I was reading it wrong. Because this appeared on my feed from folk who are receiving this article differently.

volcanologist.bsky.social
Dr Rebecca Williams @volcanologist.bsky.social · 2d
It's also odd that Franklin's gender, and Watson's misogyny isn't discussed. And how that may have been a factor in whether the contribution was recognised and credited equally at the time.

I haven't read Double Helix for a long time, but it was ick wasn't it? That's what I remember of it

volcanologist.bsky.social
Dr Rebecca Williams @volcanologist.bsky.social · 2d
I'm uncomfortable with the idea that using data without permission even if shared willingly as part of a discussion, and then not crediting the contribution, isn't a scientific injustice. That's not recognising something as an equal contribution. An equal contribution would be credited.

volcanologist.bsky.social
Dr Rebecca Williams @volcanologist.bsky.social · 2d
I think my reaction to the piece is kind of similar. I get that the joke and her data being stolen is probably misplaced. But the argument that she was an equal contributor so people should stop thinking of this as a bit of a injustice seems off. Because that contribution wasn't credited correctly.